George Washingtons Morning Corn Cakes Food

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MORNING CORN CAKES

Steps:

• The night before you plan to eat the corn cakes, combine 1 cup of the cornmeal, 1 1/2 cups of the lukewarm water, and the yeast in a medium-size nonreactive bowl. Whisk well; the mixture will be thin. Cover bowl tightly and let sit overnight in a warm place.
• The next morning, whisk in the remaining 1 cup cornmeal, salt, and one egg. Re-cover the bowl; let it stand 15-20 minutes (allowing the just-added cornmeal to absorb some of the liquid and soften a little bit).
• Check the consistency; it should be close to a thin pancake batter, not nearly liquid and not as thick as heavy cream. If you need to, add a little more lukewarm water to achieve this.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Oil lightly with a paper towel dipped in oil, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Stir batter well; using a ladle, pour 3-4 thin, 3-inch pancakes onto the hot skillet. Batter will spread out fairly thin; if it doesn't sizzle a little as you pour it, skillet isn't hot enough. If it sizzles a lot, you may need to reduce heat.
• Now watch closely. Almost immediately you'll see little bubbles appear throughout. When the top surface is completely dry and edges are beginning to curling, flip one cake. It should be golden-brown, and nicely speckled. Cook about 1 minute for the first side and 30-50 seconds on the second side. Repeat with remaining cakes and batter. (Making sure to stir batter occasionally so it doesn't separate.).
• Serve with honey and butter, if desired.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) round pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler, heat chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in melted chocolate. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the water and buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Finely chop cherries and fold in. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Fill and frost with chocolate cherry frosting.
• For the frosting: In the top of a double boiler, heat chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, melted chocolate and almond extract. Cream with an electric mixer. Add reserved cherry juice by the tablespoon until frosting reaches desired consistency.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY CHERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly grease a 9-inch Bundt® pan with shortening, then dust with flour. Shake off any excess flour from the pan.
• In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until thoroughly combined. Gently mix in the cherry pie filling, chocolate chips and nuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs, about 1 hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then invert pan and remove cake. Allow cake to finish cooling on a rack; sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar.